Coral Root, Coralroot bittercress
Cardamine bulbifera

Family: Brassicaceae or Cruciferae

What it is like

Cardamine bulbifera is a PERENNIAL growing to 0.5 m (1ft 8in). See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 4 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from April to June, and the seeds ripen from May to July. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs) and is pollinated by Insects. The plant is self-fertile. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil.

Height (m): 0.5

Where it is found

Very local in woods, usually on calcareous soils, in Devon, S.E. England, the Chilterns and Ayr. A characteristic species of base-rich beech woodlands.

Central Europe from Britain and France to Sweden, east to the Balkans, W. Asia and the Caucasus.

Conservation Status:

Countries/locations it is found in

How it is used

Food

Rating: 2

Leaves - raw or cooked. A hot cress-like flavour. Bulbils - raw or cooked. They are rather small, about the size ofa lentil, but have a pleasant mild cress-like flavour. Root - raw or cooked. A hot flavour, it is pleasant but rather small.

Root: includes bulbs, corms, tubers, rhizomes etc.

Medicine

Rating: 0

Other

Rating:

How it is grown

Prefers a moist humus rich soil in shade or semi-shade. The flowers are rarely visited by pollinating insects and seed is rarely set, propagation is carried out by means of bulbils formed on the axils of the upper leaf stems.

Propagating it: Seed - best sown when ripe, otherwise sow it in the spring. If you have sufficient seed it can be sown in situ, otherwise it is best to sow it in pots in a cold frame. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and pant out in the summer. The bulbils can be collected in early summer and potted up. Keep them in a cold frame over the winter and plant out when in active growth in the spring.

Best place to grow: Woodland Garden Sunny Edge; Dappled Shade; Shady Edge;

Habit: Perennial

Hardiness: 4-8

Growth:

Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)

Shade: Semi-shade, no shade

Moisture: Moist

Things to keep in mind

Its other names

Local names

Synonyms

Dentaria bulbifera